Improvement in paper-feeding machines



s. SOHO LHELB & 6-. E. BAKER.

Paper Feeding-Machines.

Patented Feb. 4,1873! WITNESSES.

AM. PHOTO -UTHOGRAPH1 0 ca IVY (use amvzle PRO sass.)

* UNITED FFIOE.

E. BAKER, OF MONT CLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN PAPER-FEEDING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,599, dated February4, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Soonarns Senor.- FIELD, of Providence,-inthe countyof Providence and State of Rhode Island, and CHARLES E. BAKER, of MontClair, in the county of Essex and Stateof New Jersey, have invented anImproved Method of Separating superposed Sheets of Paper, of which thefollowing is a specification:

The nature of our invention consists in pressing firmly upon the top ofa pile of paper with a suitable holding instrument, and at the same timeproducing a movement of the top sheet by means of frictionpads,suction-tubes, or bynippers or other suitable devices, as heretoforeused for moving sheets of paper singly from one place to another,causing the non penetrating point of the holding instrument to tearthrough the moving top sheet, so as to rest with its full holding poweron the sheet below, the friction be tween the two sheets beingthereafter insufficient to cause the removal of the lower sheet fromunder the pressingpoint.

The practical efficiencyof-this device depends upon the nature of thebearing-point, which, if made sharp so as to cut or to penetrate thepaper when the necessary preliminary pressure is first applied, willfail to ofi'er the required resistance to the forward movement of thelower sheet. Therefore, in order to attain that degree of certaintynecessary in practice, we so construct such point that a chip of greateror less dimensions will always be retained between the pressing-pointand thelower sheet, thus greatly increasing its efficiency in preventingthe removal of such sheet. hen the under sheet of paper is thus held bythe non-penetratin g point of the holding instrument, with the slightchip previously removed from the top sheet under said point, the amountof pressure required upon the top sheet in order that the frictionbetween it and the under sheet may cause such sheet to be also tornthrough by the pressing-point is so very great as to render the takingof more than one sheet of paper at a time when under proper conditionspractically impossible.

Figure 1 is a sectional side view of the feed-board with a pile of paperthereon. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the pile of paper with the holdinginstrument raised in order to show the slight chip previously taken fromthe top sheet. Fig. 3 is a top view of the feed-board. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7,9, 10, 11, and 12 are views illustrating some of the holding devicesemployed. Fig. 8 is a top view of the'pile of paper, showing the tear inthe top sheet, and also the chip removed therefrom relzlstin g in itsoriginal position upon the under s eet.

In the drawing, A is the feedboard, upon which the paper B is to beplaced. 0 is a revolving pad, faced with India rubber or any othersuitable material and keyed upon the shaft D. The feed-board may beraised as the paper is being withdrawn by means of a spring, E, orotherwise. At the rear of the feed-board A is placed the weightedsliding bar F, carrying a steel holding instrument, G, at its lower end.

The holding instrument G may .be constructed as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and9, Fig. 4 being a side view; Fig. 5, an edge view and Fig. 9, abottomview, clearly showing the non-penetrating point g. In this case therising back edge 9 is preferably made sharp in order to readily cutthrough to the back edge of the sheet as the same is being with drawn.The initial tear around the non-penetrating point g of the holdinginstrument is, however, the real point in which the merit of ourinvention consists, the sharpened rear edge not being absolutelynecessary, but only deemed desirable.

The back edge g, instead of rising above the sheet of paper, as shown inFig. 4., may be arranged in a plane parallel to the surface of thepaper, and may extend below such sur face, so as to cut through to theback edge before the sheet has been started, as shown in Figs. 10 and11; Fig. 10 being a side view, and Fig. 11 a bottom view of the holdinginstrument, the sharp knife-edge g, as in the former case, producing noessential efiect in the discriminate removal of the sheets'onc at atime, such virtue rest-ing only in the chipproducing bearing-point g,which may be made either narrow to an approximate cutting-edge orwidened out to any shape or size suitable for obtaining the requisitebearing and tearing surface, the practical requirement in thisparticular varying greatly, according to the tensile strength of thespecific paper under process of manipulation.

The bearing-point 9 may itself extend entirely to the rear edge of thepaper, as shown in Fig. 12, and in this case we preferably rough up orcut the edge like a fine saw in order to prevent the slipping of theentire sheet from under the point or edge 9 without producing therequired torn chip, which is deemed essential in order to insure theabsolute retention of the lower sheet.

When the revolving pad 0 strikes the surface of the paper the feed-boardA will be slightly depressed, thus relieving the top sheet from thefriction of the studs H H, and bringing a strain upon such top sheet totear it from under the holding instrument G, which, as soon as it haspenetrated, carrying the slight chip (0 with it, will offer but littleresistance to the entire removal of the top sheet, it being cut throughto the edge with a narrow slit, .d, as shown in Fig. 8. The frictionbetween the top sheet and its under one being entirely insufficient tocause the removal of the under sheet from under the pressure-point g,the much greater friction of the pad itself, when bearing directly uponthe upper surface of the sheet being necessary for this purpose. Whenthe pad 0 has made one complete revolution the remaining top sheet b ofthe pile will be raised up to the spurs H H, the sheet 1) obtained inthe revolution of the pad being left free for withdrawal by means ofgripers or other suitable devices, this operation being repeated untilthe whole pile has been removed.

Instead of placing the holding instrument G near the back of the sheetto tear a slit entirely to the edge, it may be placed further in, andmay be raised from the paper as soon as the top sheet has been movedsufficiently to separate it from the under one, thus tearing only ashort slit entirely within the edges of the paper, as shown at d in Fig.8.

v If the pressure-point g is allowed to rest continually upon the top ofthe pile of paper, then, upon the removal of the top sheet, a slightchip will be left between the pressurepoint and the under sheet; and,upon the removal of this sheet, another chip of slightly greaterproportions will be added thereto, until, finally, a large mass will beaccumulated under the point, thus destroying its efficiency. Thereforeit is necessary that the point be lifted from the surface of the paperat proper intervals, at which time the chips may be removed by means ofbrushes or otherwise.

An arrangement for avoiding the above difficulty is shown in Fig. 5,where duplicate pressing-points are used, and upon the removal of eachsheet the point used for that sheet is to be raised from the paper andthe other one let down upon the same, so that the chip a may be removedwith each following sheet in a satisfactory manner.

A spur-wheel, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, may also be used, Fig. 6 beinga side view,

and Fig. 7 an edge view, of the same. The spurs are set like the teethof a saw, and the wheel is to be raised from the paper and turned bysuitable mechanism for the space of one tooth upon the withdrawal ofeach sheet. Thus the alternate teeth, by striking down in differentvertical planes, will allow the preceding chip to be removed with thesheet of paper upon which it rests.

This invention may also be carried into ef fect by means of the inclinedholding-pin, particularly described in another specification, theoperating-point of such device, in the matter of its chip-retainingqualities, being considered by us as fully included in the scope of thepresent claim. I Instead of the friction-pad, shown in the drawing, anydevice for moving sheets of paper may be used, when arranged incombination with a chip-retaining pressure-point or device. 7

We are aware that in some attempts heretofore made to remove sheets ofpaper from a pile sharp knives for cutting through to the edge of thetop sheet have been employed, in combination with other penetratinginstruments 5 but experiment has proved that smooth cutting orpenetrating instruments, of themselves, do not offer sufficientresistance for the purpose, and all such previous attempts have beenabandoned. Therefore we make no claim here to a smooth and perfect outor penetration made, by a knife or other instrument, in the top sheet ofa pile of paper through the act of being drawn by friction-pads orotherwise; but, on the contrary, our improvement depends for itsefificiency upon the non-penetrating point or edge 9, by means of whicha chip, a, is first torn out, and then held firmly in its originalposition under such bearing-point, thus furnishing the requiredresistance to the simultaneous removal of the lower sheet with the upperone while it is being withdrawn, and, since the form and arrangement ofthe holding instrument G may be extensively varied within certainexperimentally-defined limits, we hold that the formation and retentionof such a chip, without restriction in the matter of its size or form,to be the distinctive feature of our improvement, or the point in whichit differs from all other similar inventions.

, We therefore claim-- A holding instrument with a nonepenetrating pointor edge, when applied under proper pressure to the top sheet of a pileof paper, and constructed, as described, so that, by reason of itsdesired failure to cut or penetrate the said sheet, it will tear aslight chip therefrom whenever the sheet first commences its propermovement under the action of frio tion-pads or otherwise.

SOGRATES SGHOLFIELD. CHARLES E. BAKER. Witnesses:

WILLIAM E. MEAD, H. S. CHANDLER.

